While this type of national park had been proposed previously, the United States established the first "public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people", Yellowstone National Park, in 1872,[2] although Yellowstone was not gazetted as a national park. The first officially designated national park was Mackinac Island, gazetted in 1875. Australia's Royal National Park, established in 1879, was the world's second officially established national park.[3] In 1895 ownership of Mackinac Island was transferred to the State of Michigan as a state park and national park status was consequently lost.[4] As a result Australia's Royal National Park is either the oldest or second oldest national park now in existence.[4][5][6]

The largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park, which was established in 1974. According to the IUCN, 6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006. IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park.[7]

National parks are almost always open to visitors. Most national parks provide outdoor recreation and camping opportunities as well as classes designed to educate the public on the importance of conservation and the natural wonders of the land in which the national park is located.

Definitions

In 1969, the IUCN declared a national park to be a relatively large area with the following defining characteristics:[9]

One or several ecosystems not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geomorphological sites and habitats are of special scientific, educational, and recreational interest or which contain a natural landscape of great beauty;

Highest competent authority of the country has taken steps to prevent or eliminate exploitation or occupation as soon as possible in the whole area and to effectively enforce the respect of ecological, geomorphological, or aesthetic features which have led to its establishment; and

Visitors are allowed to enter, under special conditions, for inspirational, educative, cultural, and recreative purposes.

In 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. These include:

Minimum size of 1,000 hectares within zones in which protection of nature takes precedence

Prohibition of exploitation of natural resources (including the development of dams) qualified by such activities as sport, fishing, the need for management, facilities, etc.

While the term national park is now defined by the IUCN, many protected areas in many countries are called national park even when they correspond to other categories of the IUCN Protected Area Management Definition, for example:[10]

While national parks are generally understood to be administered by national governments (hence the name), in Australia national parks are run by state governments and predate the Federation of Australia; similarly, national parks in the Netherlands are administered by the provinces.[11] In many countries, including Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas which adhere to the IUCN definition are not designated as national parks.[11]

History

The United States in 1872. When Yellowstone was established, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho were territories, not states. For this reason, the federal government had to assume responsibility for the land, hence the creation of the national park.

(by some great protecting policy of government) ...in a magnificent park ...A nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!

The first effort by any government to set aside such protected lands was in the United States, on April 20, 1832, when President Andrew Jackson signed legislation that the 22nd United States Congress had enacted to set aside four sections of land around what is now Hot Springs, Arkansas, to protect the natural, thermal springs and adjoining mountainsides for the future disposal of the U.S. government.[14][15] It was known as Hot Springs Reservation, but no legal authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877.[14]

Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, in California

John Muir is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks" due to his work in Yosemite.[16] He published two influential articles in The Century Magazine, which formed the base for the subsequent legislation.[17][18]

President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on July 1, 1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias (later becoming Yosemite National Park) to the state of California. According to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for "public use, resort, and recreation". Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation and improvement. A public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone at its establishment six years later was put under national control.[19][20]

Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory. With no state government that could assume stewardship of the land so the federal government took on direct responsibility for the park, the official first national park of the United States. The combined effort and interest of conservationists, politicians and the Northern Pacific Railroad ensured the passage of enabling legislation by the United States Congress to create Yellowstone National Park. Theodore Roosevelt, already an active campaigner and so influential as good stump speakers were highly necessary in the pre-telecommunications era, was highly influential in convincing fellow Republicans and big business to back the bill.

National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.

In his book Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks, Mark David Spence made the point that in order to create these uninhabited spaces, the United States first had to disposess the Indians who were living in them.[24]

Even with the creation of Yellowstone, Yosemite, and nearly 37 other national parks and monuments, another 44 years passed before an agency was created in the United States to administer these units in a comprehensive way – the U.S. 64th United States Congress was enacted and President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law on August 25, 1916. Of the 401 sites managed by the National Park Service of the United States, only 59 carry the designation of National Park.

The world's first national park service was established May 19, 1911, in Canada.[26] The Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act placed the dominion parks under the administration of Dominion Park Branch (now Parks Canada). The branch was established to "protect sites of natural wonder" to provide a recreational experience, centred on the idea of the natural world providing rest and spiritual renewal from the urban setting.[27] Canada now has the largest protected area in the world with 377,000 km² of national park space.[28] In 1989, the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) was created to protect 3.381 million hectares on the north slope of Mount Everest in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. This national park is the first major global park to have no separate warden and protection staff—all of its management being done through existing local authorities, allowing a lower cost basis and a larger geographical coverage (in 1989 when created, it was the largest protected area in Asia). It includes four of the six highest mountains Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu. The QNNP is contiguous to four Nepali national parks, creating a transborder conservation area equal in size to Switzerland.[29]

Marine national parks

Scientific studies in national parks

The ten largest national parks in the world

Legal framework

Economic ramifications

Countries with a large nature-based tourism industry, such as Costa Rica, often experience a huge economic effect on park management as well as the economy of the country as a whole.[31]

Tourism

Tourism to national parks has increased considerably over time. In Costa Rica for example, a megadiverse country, tourism to parks has increased by 400% from 1985 to 1999.[31] The term national park is perceived as a brand name that is associated with nature-based tourism and it symbolizes "high quality natural environment and well-design tourism infrastructure".[32]

Staff

The duties of a park ranger are to supervise, manage, and/or perform work in the conservation and use of Federal park resources. This involves functions such as park conservation; natural, historical, and cultural resource management; and the development and operation of interpretive and recreational programs for the benefit of the visiting public. Park rangers also have fire fighting responsibilities and execute search and rescue missions. Activities also include heritage interpretation to disseminate information to visitors of general, historical, or scientific information. Management of resources such as wildlife, lakeshores, seashores, forests, historic buildings, battlefields, archeological properties, and recreation areas are also part of the job of a park ranger [33] Since the establishment of the National Park Service in the US in 1916, the role of the park ranger has shifted from merely being a custodian of natural resources to include several activities that are associated with law enforcement.[34] They control traffic and investigate violations, complaints, trespass/encroachment, and accidents.[33]

^ abShugart, Sharon (2004). "Hot Springs of Arkansas Through the Years: A Chronology of Events" (PDF).

^Peters, Richard, ed. (1866). "Twenty-Second Congress, Session 1, Chap. 70: An Act authorizing the governor of the territory of Arkansas to lease the salt springs, in said territory, and for other purposes (April 20, 1832)". from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845, Treaties, and Proclamations of the United States of America from December 1863, to December 18654. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown. p. 505.

^Miller, Barbara Kiely (2008). John Muir. Gareth Stevens. p. 10.

^John Muir. Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park In: The Century Magazine, Vol. XL. September, 1890. No. 5

^John Muir. The Treasures of the Yosemite The Century Magazine, Vol. XL. August, 1890. No. 4

^Adam Wesley Dean. Natural Glory in the Midst of War: The Establishment of Yosemite State Park In: Abstract. Civil War History Volume 56, Number 4, December 2010 pp. 386-419 | 10.1353/cwh.2010.0008

^

^Mangan, Elizabeth U. Yellowstone, the First National Park from Mapping the National Parks. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.

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